Children seen studying at a madrasa. Image for representation only
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday (April 3, 2025) ordered the unsealing of a madrasa, which was sealed by the government, alleging that it was running “illegally”, given that the institution will not run any school in the building without due recognition by the State government.
In a month-long drive, the State has shut over 136 madrasas that the government says were running without affiliation and fulfilling norms laid by the madrasa board. An inquiry on the funding of these institutions was also ordered by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
A Bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani passed an interim relief to Dehradun-based Madarsa Enamul Uloom.
The madrasa owners had approached the court stating that they run a religious school under a registered society but the premises of the society has been sealed by the State without any authority and legal sanction.
The court had asked the State under what provisions of law and by following what procedure did the property of the petitioner get sealed.
Representing the State, Advocate General S.N. Babulkar told the court that the petitioners were running the madrasa in defiance to the regulations laid down on that behalf on which the petitioner responded that even if the society was doing work beyond their objectives, the property may not be sealed.
In an order dated April 1, the High Court noted that the property was sealed without any show-cause notice and even the petitioners were not given any opportunity of hearing.
“Having considered the entirety of facts, as an interim measure, till the next date of listing, the property would be unsealed subject to the petitioner giving an undertaking that they will not run any Madarsa or school without due recognition by the State government under the rules and regulations,” the court noted.
Published – April 04, 2025 08:25 am IST
